After visiting Melaka (in August) and Seremban (in September), Aric and I made another overnight trip, this time to Teluk Intan. We visited the town in 2014, see Journal 5-10-2014 and had seen all points of interest. This time it was a convenient place to stay overnight and visit a few other attractions in the neighbourhood. Our program had three targets:

• The Elephant Memorial
• The Pasir Salak historical complex
• The grave of J.W.W. Birch

We started our trip on a Friday afternoon and reached Teluk Intan in about two hours. Before checking in at the Rick Resort, we first visited the Elephant Memorial. In 1894 there was an accident where an elephant attacked a train to protect its herd. The train derailed, the elephant died.

A memorial has been erected at the location where it happened. A signboard beside the road tells you where the trail starts and gives a description of the accident. It’s not much of a trail, but a very a short one. Not many people visit this place.

Here is the memorial.

The railway between Tapah Road and Teluk Intan opened in 1893 and closed in 1989. The tracks have been dismantled, but the railway bridge across the Bidor river is still there, now used for bike traffic. The map shows Teluk Intan in the 1940s when the railway was still operational. In the other picture the remains from a pedestrian walkway next to the railway are still visible.

Not far from the bridge we found this attractive mural. I am not happy with the proliferation of murals all over Malaysia, but this one is very appropriate and well-done.

We had booked a room in Rick resort. Our room was not large but had the luxury of a private jacuzzi.

After a short rest we went out again for dinner. There is not much special food in Teluk Intan, but we found a nice family-run Char Koay Teow stall, just along the road. Traditional preparation, using charcoal.

The main attraction of Teluk Intan is the leaning tower. It was brightly lit and many families were enjoying the evening. We spent quite some time there. Aric is trying to tilt the tower a bit more.

He had brought his drone.

The resort was also nicely illuminated. I enjoyed the jacuzzi with a beer.

The next morning we checked out and went to the town center for our breakfast. The Maharani hawker center is located on both sides of the street.

We had Ying Yong Glutinous Rice with Char Siew and Curry Chicken.. Interesting, but a bit heavy for breakfast. The stall owner was willing to pose with his food.

We had a look at the nearby Guong Dong temple, dedicated to Guan Yin (seated in the center). The deity is Caishen, the god of wealth, an important deity for Chinese 😉

Then it was time for the main challenge of this trip, finding the grave of Birch. I had found a webpage created in 2019, Jejak Sejarah: Menjejaki Kubur JWW Birch with a map. And Sabri Zain visited the graves about ten years ago, here is his report: Perak Expedition: Bandar Bahru. He gave me clear instructions how to reach the graves. Here is the map of the region with Sabri’s route in green and the 2019 one in red.

We decided to try Sabri’s route first (the green one). The plantation road was in reasonable condition, but very overgrown, scratching our car so much, that we turned back halfway. Then Aric got the brilliant idea, why don’t we walk to the graves. He had noted that a minor road comes quite close to the graves and that on Google Earth it looks like a vague trail is going in the right direction..

We found the trail location and parked the car there. It was actually a cattle trail, we had to walk carefully to avoid the cow dung, but it was not more than a 700 m hike before we reached the graves.

I found it quite impressive, so in the middle of nowhere.

The grave of Birch is in the center. Left of his grave is the grave of Innes, who died a few days later during a failed attack on Pasir Salak. According to Sabri Zain the other three graves are of a British private, a Sepoy and a Malay scout. I may write a separate post about the killing of Birch and the hectic weeks that followed.

Aric used his drone to take aerial pictures of the cemetery and the nearby majestic Perak river.

We walked back to the car and continued our trip to the Historical Center of Pasir Salak. When we arrived we were the only visitors, later a Malay group arrived. I had visited the center long ago and was not impressed. The architecture of the complex is nice, maybe a bit over the top. There are two monuments about what actually happened here. And there is a Time Tunnel as main attraction.

But the concept of Bumi Pahlawan Melayu (Land of the Malay warriors) which you see displayed everywhere in the complex is not appropriate, in my opinion. It suggest a continuous struggle for independence, from the Melaka sultanate until the formation of UMNO. It would have been better to concentrate on British colonialism.

The time tunnel is actually quite well done. I remember a “primitive” version when i visited the first time, dioramas depicting the various phases of “Ketuanan Melayu“. Now it is more high-tech and more balanced. Officially not allowed to take photos, but I could not resist the temptation. The Pangkor Treaty (1874) and the hanging of Birch’s killers in Matang (1876).

Here are the two monuments near the actual location where Birch was speared (while taking a bath in the river!). A British one (for Birch) and a Malaysian one (for his killers). The cannon is a so-called Rentaka, a bronze cannon, used by the Malays during the fighting.

Pasir Salak was the home base of Maharaja Lela, he had his stronghold there. In the picture you see a replica, but already ruined.

After this visit we drove back to Teluk Intan for lunch. The town may not be a haven for foodies, but there is one famous speciality, Liew Kee’s Chee Cheong Fun. Prepared with a variety of herbs, without a sauce. Aric bought 27 packs (at RM 8 per pack) to distribute them among family and friends ;-).

The shop has only limited seating capacity, so we went to the Glutton (!) Square Food court, where we ordered ABC and had a pack of CCF. Both delicious.

Before driving back to KL, we had a look at three more or less ruined buildings, indicated on this Google Earth map of Teluk Intan. The former palace of the Raja Muda, the Old Police Station and the Woo Choy Mansion. Also marked the Elephant Memorial, the Railway bridge and our resort.

In 2014 I had also taken pictures of these three buildings and I was curious how much they had deteriorated since then. As you can see, not much difference, the Palace (1922) and Police Station (1882) more overgrown with trees and bushes. The mansion was built in 1918 by “towkay” Woo Choy. It is private property, not inhabited but apparently well maintained.

All three properties were thoroughly fenced, no trespassing possible, a big difference with Taiping.

The entrance of the mansion is from Jalan Speedy. You wonder why Captain Speedy is honoured in Teluk Intan? You can find the answer in my blog post In Defense of Captain Speedy 😉

It was a very successful trip.

PLEASE READ THE APPENDIX FIRST!

When J.W.W Birch, the British Resident of Perak, was murdered by the Malay nobility on 2 November 1875 in Pasir Salak, it was of course clear that the British Empire had to hit back. The result was the Perak War. Not a real war, more a series of skirmishes. The Colonial Office just wanted to catch the people responsible for the killing (and of course also show its strength). In July 1876 the last perpetrators were caught or surrendered. In December the trial took place in the fort of Ngah Ibrahim and in January 1877 three of them, Maharaja Lela, Dato’ Sagor and Pandak Indut, were hanged in Matang.

Two years later British explorer Isabella Bird arrives in the Malay peninsula and writes a fascinating travelogue The Golden Chersonese And The Way Thither about her visit. I am a big fan and have written a post about her, Isabella BIrd & Taiping. When she arrives 16 February 1879 in Kuala Kangsar to meet the Resident Hugh Low, he is not yet back home. His Sinhalese clerk suggests that she could make a trip (by elephant) the next day to a nearby village. He says “”I’m going to take you to Koto-lamah; no European has been there since the war. I’ve never been there, nor the Resident either.” Read my blog about her adventure. Or even better, read letter XX from her book as she writes very well.

Kota Lama (as it is spelled nowadays), is a small village , a few km north of Kuala Kangsar. Wikipedia in its article about the Perak War mentions very briefly the Battle of Kota Lama Kanan .

I am also a fan of Captain Speedy and have read Gulick’s monograph Captain Speedy of Larut (1953). Speedy took part in the Kota Lama expedition, here is what Gulick wrote about it (page 71):

On 4 January 1876 troops of Ross’s column moved into the two halves of Kota Lama, which straddled the Perak River. Speedy, despite his differences with Ross, was in charge of the political side of the operation. He called on the inhabitants to surrender their arms and the troops then began a home-to-house search. At first there was no resistance and the British relaxed their watchfulness. Ross and a group of headquarters staff officers came up to watch the search. They were attacked by a party of Malays. There was a short but exciting melee in which Ross’s Brigade Major was killed. The attackers were quickly driven off.

In August 2020 I visited Kota Lama Kanan, now a peaceful kampung. Kota Lama Kiri is on the other side of the Perak River. A cannon is the only remnant of the battle.

Until a few weeks ago this was what I knew about the Battle of Kota Lama. Then Marianne Pillai, a friend of mine with an interest in heritage, sent me a link to an article about Captain Speedy, published in the Singapore Daily Times of 17 April 1878. Speedy, after years of being thwarted by the Straits Government had, had finally resigned and left the Malay Peninsula in December 1877. The article is a fierce defence of Captain Speedy. Here is the article outlined in red.

Not easy to read, I converted the text into a readable format and wrote a separate post about it : In defense of Captain Speedy where I also add some comments.

The description in the article does not differ a lot from the one given by Gullick in his book, with a few exceptions. One of them is the description of the battle of Kota Lama. The description given by Gullick is short: Speedy is in charge of the political side of the operation. According to the article the situation is much more complicated.

Captain Speedy was actually against an attack on Kota Lama. They might be notorious people, cattle-stealers and robbers, but they had nothing to do with the killing of Birch. However, Brigadier General Ross, who was cross with Speedy (Gullick p 68-69), forced him to join the expedition.

The description of the expedition in the article is different from other reports I have seen. The main difference is that apparently there where TWO parts of Kota Lama, on both sides of the Perak river. Kota Lama Kiri on the left right bank and Kota Lama Kanan on the right left bank. (also nowadays there are two kampungs!). Therefore the British troops are split in two parts. Colonel Cox commanding the troops on the left bank with Maxwell as Commissioner, and Captain Speedy proceeding on the right bank.

Captain Speedy, not being one of the Commissioners, and having been telegraphed for the previous evening from Larut to participate in the proceedings, saw no alternative before him but to submit; and was desired by the Brigadier General to accompany the party who were to advance along the right bank of the river. The troops who proceeded to the village on the left bank, were commanded by Colonel Cox, accompanied by Mr. W.E. Maxwell, Asst. Queen’s Commissioner, and the course which was pursued was as follows.

Here is what happened in Kota Lama Kiri Kanan. A violent encounter! Gullick writes that Ross was disappointed not to have a fight. Might this fight have been provoked? The report below suggests it.

On our troops landing and advancing through the village, the Malays fled into the jungle, taking their arms with them, and it was then deemed advisable to put an end to the settlement by burning the village. Accordingly one or more of the houses were set fire to. Almost at the same time the General and his party landed, and one of the houses being soon after entered, it was discovered to be filled with the women of the village. These women being naturally alarmed began to scream, when the men who had been lying in ambush in the jungle, thinking their women were being insulted rushed in, and fired a volley upon our men, following this up by charging with their spears. In this skirmish the Brigade Major Hawkins, two Goorkhas, and some others met their deaths and one of the Queen’s Commissioners was carried of the field hors de combat although unwounded.

And here is what happened in Kota Lama Kanan Kiri. A peaceful solution, managed in a diplomatic way by Captain Speedy. “Not a shot was fired” ,

Meanwhile on the right bank of the river the scene presented an aspect of rather a different nature. Captain Speedy had requested to form a cordon with this men round the village. This being done, Captain Speedy, accompanied by a few men, entered the village and advance to the houses of the head men, and told them that the British Government demanded that they should deliver up their arms. To this they demurred, but Captain Speedy represented that as their village was surrounded, submission would be their wisest course, and he guaranteed that no harm should be done them were they to yield, and the men eventually submitted. Not a shot was fired, not a threat used, and no ill feeling whatever had been displayed on the part of the Malays; on the contrary a friendly feeling was at once established, and while waiting for the party on the other side of the river to complete their proceedings, Captain Speedy occupied his Kota Lama allies in getting them to show him how they had trained their monkeys to climb, and gather the fruit from the coconut palms.

The writer ends his report as follows:

Yet for this successful policy he from first to last received no word of approbation, or gracious acknowledgment; on the contrary, the unsuccessful leaders of the other party, evidently stung by jealousy and dissatisfaction, persistently declared on any reference to the event that the men on the right bank of the river were of a peaceable disposition, and not hostile to the Government, and that no difficulty was to have been expected with them. Captain Speedy’s name was, moreover, invariably suppressed in all letters regarding the Kota Lama attack, a fact in itself sufficiently significant of the petty feeling which prevented a fair statement of the facts.

Reading this report I was of course very surprised. What is the true story? I started searching the Internet for more information. Soon I found a webpage, created by Sabri Zain, titled The Battle of Kota Lama, part of a collection of web pages about The Perak Civil War. Here is the introduction of Sabri’s webpage

McNair’s book Perak and the Malays is available online and interesting to read. In chapter XXXII he describes the attack on Kota Lama. He took part in the expedition himself, as he was the Commissioner and Maxwell the Deputy-commissioner (p 384) Here are a few quotes from the chapter.

Kotah Lamah — a place that had long been noted as a resort for the worst characters, and freebooters of the vilest description

On the arrival of the troops at Qualla Kungsa these people were not openly hostile

... it was determined to disarm the people

… the demand for arms to be given up was acceded to on being made by Captain Speedy

.. armed men were seen rushing off, in two or three instances, to the jungle.

General Ross and his party landed at the middle of the village, and were searching the various houses to see that they contained none but women and children

… they were assailed by a body of fifty or sixty spear-armed Malays, who had been hidden amongst the trees.

Compare these quotes with Gullick’s description, They are quite similar, possibly because Gullick used McNair’s book. But why does McNair not mention that the troops proceeded on both sides of the Perak River?

I searched further and finally found what I was looking for in the London Gazette, the journal of the British government, where the official dispatches are published. I found two that are relevant to the topic of this blog (there may be more).

The first one is a dispatch in issue 24296 written by Brigadier-General Ross, while the second one, in issue 24298, has been written by by Edmund.Garforth, the Commander of the Naval Brigade attached to the Laroot Field Force. Both dated 5 January 1876, one day after the battle. Here are the two dispatches, click on them to open the link where you can enlarge the image to make it readable. Garforth’s dispatch (right) starts actually on page 4 of the 24298 issue.

Here are a few quotes from the report by Ross, with my comments.

For long this village has -been the haunt of all the worst disposed and turbulent Malays. The Queen’s Commissioner, deeming it necessary to disarm the inhabitants and to destroy the houses of certain known leaders, I made the following arrangements.

The village is Kota Lama. From the start of the expedition the target was clear: punish the village and destroy it.

The village of Kota Lama is on the left bank of the river. Lieutenant-Colonel Cox crossed
with his party in boats, and moved up the bank a little more than a mile, when he extended the men, the left of the line keeping close to the river, and skirmished through the village.
Mr. Maxwell, Deputy-Commissioner, accompanied Lieutenant-Colonel Cox.

Captain Young moved his party in a similar manner up the right bank, to a village of the same name; his orders were to collect any arms, but not to destroy or injure houses or property, as the inhabitants have been well disposed. Captain Speedy, Assistant – Commissioner, accompanied Captain Young.

Here is finally the true situation, there were two parties proceeding to the two parts of Kota Lama, left (kiri) and right (kanan). One led by Cox with Maxwell, the Deputy-commissioner, the other one led by Young and Speedy. Ross mistakenly writes that Speedy was the Assistant-Commissioner. But he was not a Commissioner , he was the Assistant-Resident of Larut! McNair and Maxwell were the two Commissioners

The people of Kota Lama Kiri Kanan are bad, the people of Kota Lama Kanan Kiri are “well disposed”. Does that make sense?

Major McNair, I, and my staff went with Captain Garforth’s party of the Naval Brigade. We landed on the left bank just above the village, and, leaving a few blue jackets in charge of the boats, we moved in the direction of the village, expecting there to find Lieutenant-Colonel Cox’s party.

So there were actually three parties. Ross himself with Garforth’s men, came by boat. Accompanied by McNair, the Commissioner.

… after about an hour and a half we came upon several houses .close to each other, the largest being occupied by women and children. It being necessary to ascertain whether any men also were in it, Major McNair sent in two of his Malay followers, and himself looked in. After satisfying himself that there were only women and children, he had just got down from the steps, telling those inside not to be alarmed as they would not be harmed, when we heard several shots, and from a jungle close by some 50 Malays rushed out upon us, a few with fire-arms and the rest with spears.

According to the newspaper article, the women started screaming, the men rushed out of the jungle to their rescue and the fight started. Doesn’t that make more sense?

The report by Edmund.Garforth is basically the same.

… at daylight on the 4th January, the following forces, under Brigadier-General Ross, left Qualla Kandsor for a village called Koto-lama, on the left bank of the Perak River, distant three miles.

Kota-lama is the village that the late Mr. Birch was stopped at by an armed force, and for some time has been harbouring the worst characters in this part of the country, and it was the intention to destroy the houses belonging to these men.

Again, from the start it was already the intention to destroy the village, “to teach them a lesson”

A portion of the force was marched up on both banks of the river, two villages being opposite one another, of the same name ; the one on the right bank was only to be searched for arms.

“Only searched for arms” because they were basically good people? It just doesn’t make sense. In the newspaper narrative Speedy’s diplomatic approach does. Speedy is not even mentioned in Garforth’s report.

Having landed with the Naval Brigade and rocket (leaving sufficient men to guard the boats), I was requested by the Brigadier-General commanding to search some houses for arms, which having accomplished I came up with him and his staff at the house of one of the chiefs, about 11. A.M.

In the report by Ross it is McNair who does the searching, telling the women not to worry.

About five minutes after this fifty or sixty armed Malays, who had evidently been hidden in the bush (which was very thick), made a sudden and most determined attack on our party. I had previous to this formed the Blue Jackets up as a guard to the Brigadier-General. The enemy immediately came to close quarters, using their fire-arms and spears, the latter with great effect.

According to Gullick (p 68) Ross was unhappy that there had not been any fight, blaming Speedy for the delay in reaching Kuala Kangsar from Larut. Now he gets his fight!

The two dispatches fit perfectly with the report in the Singapore Daily Times

My conclusions:

In my opinion the article in the Singapore Daily Times, based on the Pinang Gazette, is the most accurate description of what happened on the 4th of January 1876. There has never been a battle of Kota Lama Kanan Kiri, thanks to Captain Speedy’s diplomacy. The battle of Kota Lama Kiri Kanan may have been provoked by the British colonial powers.

Of course the intriguing question remains, who wrote the four articles in the Pinang Gazette? The details about what happened in Kota Lama Kanan Kiri, especially that the locals showed Speedy how they had trained monkeys to gather coconuts from the trees, suggest an eyewitness.

APPENDIX

Left and Right

What is the left bank of a river and what the right bank? That depends on whether you look upstream or downstream. Geography has “solved” this ambiguity by defining left and right bank of a river from the downstream perspective.

When you navigate the Perak River upstream. you will pass several villages that straddle the river and have a left (kiri) and a right (kanan) part. See the GE map.

NewspaperSG is an online digital archive of over 200 Singapore and Malaya newspapers published since 1831. It has a very useful search option, which I have been using regularly, see for example my post about Menggelumchor.

The 17 April 1878 issue of the Singapore Daily Times contains a long article about Captain Speedy who had left the Malay peninsula a few months earlier. I have marked the article below in red color.

The anonymous writer refers to 4 articles from the Pinang Gazette And Straits Chronicle. The NewspaperSG archive has a few volumes of the Pinang Gazette, but not from 1878, so the writer of the original articles is unfortunately also unknown.

Here is the article, split in parts. When you click on it, you will see that it is just readable but not easy.

That’s why I have converted the text into a more readable form below. Here it is, in blue italic. In between I have added my comments

The Pinang Gazette contains in of some of its recent issues a series of articles, four in number, giving what profess to be authentic details respecting Captain Speedy’s connection with Perak from the date of his taking service with the Mantri of Larut till his resignation on the 31st December last.

In 1953 the orientalist J.M. Gullick published a well-documented monograph about Captain Speedy: Captain Speedy of Larut ,covering the same period (and more). It is available online and very readable.

The object of the writer is to expose what he considers to be the unworthy treatment of Captain Speedy by the Straits Government and the Colonial Office. No startling revelations are made, but some details are given, a brief summary of which may be interesting as a piece of local history relative to the Native States.

The setting is clear, the writer of the articles is critical of the way Captain Speedy has been treated by the Government of the Straits Settlements and the Colonial Office.

Captain Speedy formerly served in H.M. 18th Regiment, and, during the Abyssinian Expedition, in 1867, acted as Interpreter to the forces on the staff of the Commanding General, Sir Robert Napier, now Lord Napier of Magdala. After the war he was appointed guardian or tutor of King Theodore’s son, Prince Alameida, and in 1868 he came out to Penang as Commissioner of Police.

The dates are incorrect. Captain Speedy arrived in Penang in 1871 where he became Superintendent of Police. And he did not resign in July of that year, but in 1873.

In July of that year he resigned that appointment and entered the service of the since notorious Mantri of Larut, upon an arrangement drawn up in due legal form, to the effect that in return for services rendered, Captain Speedy was to receive $500 a month, or £1,200 a year, and a tenth of all the revenues of Larut, for the period of ten years. As the revenues of Larut in 1874 and 1875, averaged about $200,000 a year, Captain Speedy’s tenth would amount to $20,000 or £4,000, which would have given him an income of over £5,000 a year, had his agreement held, and had not Sir Andrew Clarke interfered in the affairs of Perak.

The interference of Sir Andrew Clarke -> the Pangkor Treaty (January 1874)

The service which Captain Speedy undertook to perform was nothing less than to quell the disturbances of the Chinese factions among the tin miners, the See Quans and the Goh Quans, who fought each other for the possession of certain tin mines and the water supply, and had desolated the country as well as put an entire stop to trade. The Mantri himself, having supported the Goh Quans against the See Quans, and the former having been defeated, was obliged by the victorious See Quans to fly the country and take refuge in Penang.

The whole tin producing land of Larut covers a space of about 50 square miles, and the mines in dispute occupied an area of more than four square miles, their annual product being upwards of 2,600 tons. There is no doubt that Captain Speedy would have effected his object had he not been interfered with, and it is possible enough he might have become the virtual ruler of Larut, if not the whole of Perak.

“He might have become the virtual ruler of Larut” The writer is obviously a staunch supporter of Captain Speedy.

But his proceedings are said to have been viewed with disfavour and suspicion by the Penang Government, which gets the credit of doing all in its power to thwart him, and is accused of planning his arrest as an outlaw and on a charge of high treason.

Captain Speedy’s plan for restoring order and the authority of the Mantri of Larut was to enlist a disciplined body of 200 armed Sikhs for service in the country as Policemen. For this purpose, he proceeded to India in August 1873, and with much trouble and difficulty he succeeded, after six weeks of hard work, in securing, principally from the North West Provinces of India, upwards of 200 men, whom he engaged to accompany him to Larut, and whom he brought down to Calcutta.

According to Gullick (page 34) the Straights Government had notified the Government of India that Speedy was allowed to bring sepoys to Larut

Here, however, reports, promulgated it is said by Penang Officials from spite and jealousy, reached the ears of the men that Captain Speedy’s proceedings were illegal and would be opposed by the Government. The consequence was that half of them deserted or refused to fulfill their engagement, and demanded their traveling expenses back to their villages. About one hundred of them however remained staunch, and with these Captain Speedy embarked for Penang on board of one of Apcar’s steamers toward the end of September 1873.

Gullick (page 33-34) writes differently, that Anson, the Lieutenant-Governor of Penang, actually supported Speedy’s mission to India. No mention that half of the men deserted, Gullick calls it a rumour that more than about 100 men were planning to follow

On his arrival in Penang harbour he was warned by Mr, R.C. Woods, the Mantri’s lawyer, not to land, as it was possible a warrant might be issued against him on a charge of waging war against an ally of Her Majesty’s, and accordingly he started at once for Larut with the men in a small steamer belonging to the Mantri, being accompanied by Mrs Speedy and his brother.

Gullick also writes that Soeedy did not land in Penang but continued to Larut. However, there is no mention at all of a possible warrant or arrest, had he landed in Penang.

On arriving in Larut, Captain Speedy advised the Mantri to send a letter to the Chinese faction hostile to him, offering to reinstate them in their mines if they laid down their arms and gave security for their future good behaviour. No reply was received, and, after a delay of two months, active measures were taken,

Gullick doesn’t mention this act of diplomacy by Speedy

Captain Speedy advanced from his head-quarters, at Bukit Gantang, with two-thirds of his force and two six-pounder Krupp guns against a stockade 14 miles distant. This and four others were taken with ease in the course of a fortnight, and there remained only two more in the hands of the enemy. One was at Matang, the port of Larut river, and the other at Simpang, two and a half miles inland, and both were rather formidable from their position.

Captain Speedy was making his preparations for attack, when he was checked by the arrival early in January of Captain Grant, H.M.S. Aron, and Mr. F.A. Swettenham, with Mr. R.C. Woods, from Penang, with a message from Sir Andrew Clarke asking for a ten days’ truce and informing him of the new Government’s intention to take the settlement of affairs in Larut and in Perak in hand himself.

There followed the famous Pangkore Treaty, which altered all Captain Speedy’s arrangements and projects. He was offered the appointment of Resident of Larut, and to act temporarily as Resident of Perak on a salary of £2,000 a year. This he declined until he was requested by the Mantri to take the appointment. He did so, however, very reluctantly, for the appointment was altogether different as regards pay, status and influence to the one he had contemplated in the service of the Mantri.

Gullick (p 38) doesn’t discuss this refusal and reluctant acceptance , but he mentions that the £2,000 a year caused irritation with the government officials in Singapore, as it was much more than they got.

It is claimed for Captain Speedy, however, that he took to the duties of his new post with much zeal, and displayed much judgment and tact in his dealings with the natives, both Chinese and Malays, whose respect and confidence he succeeded in acquiring and keeping to the last from 1874 to December 1877. During the first two years of his administration, and up to the time he left in June 1876, on six months’ leave of absence, Larut flourished to a most surprising and unexpected extent. But it is alleged that he was all along treated in a jealous and unfriendly spirit by Straits Officials from the Governor downwards. One or two instances are given of his treatment by Sir William Jervois, and the following may be quoted:

According to the writer Speedy is doing very well in Larut, but is treated badly by the Straits government and especially by William Jervois (who succeeded Clarke as Straits Governor). Two examples are given. In the first one, Speedy acted professionally but still was reprimanded “in terms of the curtest nature”

–Almost at the commencement of the Perak expedition, before any active measures had been taken, Captain Speedy received a letter from the Ex-Sultan Ismail, asking his advice, as to whether he should attempt opposition to the British troops or offer the Government his services. Seeing at once that a communication of this kind should be forwarded without comment to head quarters, Captain Speedy without replying enclosed the letter to Sir William Jervois and shortly afterwards received an answer cached in terms of the curtest nature to the effect that he was never at any time, to hold communication with the native chiefs but to forward all such despatches direct to the Government.

The second example is a long, detailed report about the so-called battle of Kota Lama on 4 January 1876. Captain Speedy is against the attack on this village. They may be bad people but were not involved in the killing of BIrch.

– Again during the so called “war” — when it was determined by the Commissioners appointed for the time being, to attack the village of Kota Lama, on the Perak river, Captain Speedy’s advice that this attack should not take place was wholly disregarded, though he felt and represented strongly the extreme unjustice of the proceeding. He represented that the Kota Lama men were neutral, — that they had taken no part in the death of Mr. Birch, and that an attack on their village was quite uncalled for. The unblushing reply of the Commissioners was, that they were freebooters and turbulent, – that they had formerly been cattle stealers, and that it was desirable to give them a lesson.

The Kota Lama men had doubtless a reputation not undeserved, for a character, which as regarded their neighbours, was none of the most peaceable; but of any participation in the murder of Mr. Birch they were wholly blameless; and as the express object with which our troops were sent into the country, was to punish those murderers, and proclamations had been issued by the Government to the effect that the inhabitants who remained quiet had nothing to fear, by what right the Commissioners reconciled it to their conscience to attack Kota Lama can perhaps be only explained by themselves.

“… by what right the Commissioners reconciled it to their conscience to attack Kota Lama can perhaps be only explained by themselves”. It is clear that the writer agrees with Captain Speedy.

The following paragraph casts a rather negative light on the character of W.E. Maxwell, who succeeded Speedy as Assistant Resident of Larut.

A circumstance had, moreover, shortly before occurred, which was but calculated to inspire feelings the reverse of conciliatory toward the British in the eyes of these men. The Assistant Queen’s Commissioner, Mr. W.E. Maxwell, had, some days previous, gone up the river to a village a few miles north of Kota Lama, in search of a man named Rajah Abbas, who had about 4 years previously broken jail from Penang, and who Mr. Maxwell had reason to believe was living at the house of a Malay named Anjong. On reaching Anjong’s house, however, he found that Abbas had left a few days before. He then enquired of Anjong if he had given him any shelter and the man replied in the affirmative, saying that Abbas had come to his house and remained there for a few days. Hearing this Mr. Maxwell at once decreed Anjong to be worthy of death, and ordered him to be executed. Accordingly he was hanged then and there! to the nearest tree by the men of the Naval Brigade who acted as Mr. Maxwell’s escort.

Here is the description of the battle. It is so different from the “official” narrative, for example Gullick (page 71) that I have written a separate post about the Battle of Kota Lama. This “novel point of view” I have given a different color.

The attack on Kota Lama and Captain Speedy’s proceedings thereat are described as follows, and the description presents that ill-managed affair from a novel point of view.

Captain Speedy, not being one of the Commissioners, and having been telegraphed for the previous evening from Larut to participate in the proceedings, saw no alternative before him but to submit; and was desired by the Brigadier General to accompany the party who were to advance along the right bank of the river. The troops who proceeded to the village on the left bank, were commanded by Colonel Cox, accompanied by Mr. W.E. Maxwell, Asst. Queen’s Commissioner, and the course which was pursued was as follows.

On our troops landing and advancing through the village, the Malays fled into the jungle, taking their arms with them, and it was then deemed advisable to put an end to the settlement by burning the village. Accordingly one or more of the houses were set fire to. Almost at the same time the General and his party landed, and one of the houses being soon after entered, it was discovered to be filled with the women of the village. These women being naturally alarmed began to scream, when the men who had been lying in ambush in the jungle, thinking their women were being insulted rushed in, and fired a volley upon our men, following this up by charging with their spears. In this skirmish the Brigade Major Hawkins, two Goorkhas, and some others met their deaths and one of the Queen’s Commissioners was carried of the field hors de combat although unwounded.

Meanwhile on the right bank of the river the scene presented an aspect of rather a different nature. Captain Speedy had requested to form a cordon with this men round the village. This being done, Captain Speedy, accompanied by a few men, entered the village and advance to the houses of the head men, and told them that the British Government demanded that they should deliver up their arms. To this they demurred, but Captain Speedy represented that as their village was surrounded, submission would be their wisest course, and he guaranteed that no harm should be done them were they to yield, and the men eventually submitted. Not a shot was fired, not a threat used, and no ill feeling whatever had been displayed on the part of the Malays; on the contrary a friendly feeling was at once established, and while waiting for the party on the other side of the river to complete their proceedings, Captain Speedy occupied his Kota Lama allies in getting them to show him how they had trained their monkeys to climb, and gather the fruit from the coconut palms.

Here is the conclusion of the writer. Speedy did not get any words of gracious acknowledgment and in the official reports his successful actions were suppressed or downplayed

Yet for this successful policy he from first to last received no word of approbation, or gracious acknowledgment; on the contrary, the unsuccessful leaders of the other party, evidently stung by jealousy and dissatisfaction, persistently declared on any reference to the event that the men on the right bank of the river were of a peaceable disposition, and not hostile to the Government, and that no difficulty was to have been expected with them. Captain Speedy’s name was, moreover, invariably suppressed in all letters regarding the Kota Lama attack, a fact in itself sufficiently significant of the petty feeling which prevented a fair statement of the facts.

But neither time nor space would allow us here to enumerate the repeated instances in which the same spirit of narrow minded jealousy was allowed to militate against him.

A few more examples of the way Captain Speedy was badly treated:

Upon the appointment of Mr. Birch as Resident of Perak towards the close of 1874, Captain Speedy was definitely appointed ” H.B.M Assistant Resident of Perak attached to the district of Larut” with a salary of £1500 a year, and Lord Carnarvon promised to confirm the appointment but this promise was not fulfilled.

In July 1876, Lord Carnarvon recommended him for the appointment of Resident of Perak in succession to Mr, Birch, and asked for Sir William Jervois’ advice on the subject, but Sir William merely replied that he did not think him qualified.

In October 1876, when in England and on the point of returning from leave, Captain Speedy received a letter from the Colonial Office stating that his salary was to be reduced from £1,500 to £750 per annum, and he was told to judge whether it would be worth his while to return. This was a plain hint not to return to the East, but Captain Speedy returned nevertheless.

The Straits Governor William Jervois was the most negative in his opinion about Captain Speedy. That is also Gullick’s conclusion

On his arrival in Penang he received a message from Sir William Jervois to go to Singapore and the first thing said to him by Sir William was “Why he had returned, because he had telegraphed home to stop him”. He was then told that the appointment of Assistant Resident at Laroot was to be abolished, as Mr Paul held the title of Assistant Resident of Perak, having been appointed in the beginning of 1876, and that the only feasible plan was to send him to Durian Saba tang as Superintendent and Magistrate.

Ultimately, Captain Speedy returned to Larut on a salary of £1.000 a year, but in the course of two months and a half he was officially informed that his salary was again to be reduced to £850,and that he was to proceed from Larut to the swamp of Durian Sabatang.

Durian Sebatang is now Teluk Intan.

It is alleged that this last measure was adopted in pursuance of the settled policy of the Government Officials in the Straits Settlements since the departure of Sir Andrew Clarke, to drive him out of the service, in the hope that it would be finally successful.

And it was so eventually, Captain Speedy obeyed the order, but, after ten months’ residence at Durian Sabatang, he determined to resign, and at the end of 1877, he left Perak probably for ever.

Such is a condensed account of the authentic facts relating to Captain Speedy’s connection with the sate of Perak published in the Penang Gazette. The story is not a pretty one but we can offer no opinion upon it without having heard the other side

Is this the conclusion of the Singapore writer or the Penang one? Really a pity that the relevant records of the Pinang Gazette have not been preserved.